Terminal member for plastic filament zippers



Dec. 2l, 1965 D. o. TAYLOR TERMINAL MEMBER FOR PLASTIC FILAMENT ZIPPERSFiled Sept. 17, 1964 Inv. .Donald 0. Taylor United States Patent3,224,061 TERMINAL MEMBER FOR PLASTIC FILAMENT ZIPPERS Donald 0. Taylor,Waterbury, Conn., assigner to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury,Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Sept. 17, 1964, Ser. No.397,118 2 Claims. (Cl. 24-205.11)

My invention relates generally to zippers of the type employingcontinuous plastic filaments attached to a pair of tapes. Such filamentsmay be of a modified coil design or a meandering form which is notstrictly a coil, but which like a coil presents a Series of aligned openloop portions along the Stringer edge.

Plastic filament zippers have usually employed metallic terminal or stopmembers in spite of some difficulties in anchoring the ends of thefilaments. Various proposals have also been made for molding Suchterminal members to the tapes, sometimes with portions of the moldingextending into the filament, but this is a difficult molding operation.

In the case of metal stop members and especially on the pin side of aseparable bottom connection, the Stringer will tend to hinge where theterminal stop member joins the filament and eventually break thefilament and tape at that point.

It iS, accordingly, an object of my invention to introduce in thiscombination, a reinforcement element which is flexible enough to allowthe necessary bending of the Stringer, but which will inhibit the Severefiexing at a concentrated point next to the terminal element.

My invention makes possible the use of the same metal parts as used inthe more common type of metal zippers. On one Side there is a pin whichis threaded through the Slider and on the other side there iS a box-likeretainer for receiving the pin, such retainer being in turn, clamped toa tube securely anchored to such other Stringer. While the reinforcementmay be also employed with the tube and retainer side, it is not So muchneeded there because during the threading and unthreading operation, theslider is always in position against the retainer, whereas on the pinside, there is normally nothing to prevent severe iiexing of theStringer immediately above the pin.

According to the invention, a short semi-rigid strand of material isarranged along the tape edge and anchored into the rigid terminal memberwhich is clamped around the tape end. This strand extends into the openloop portions of a few of the plastic filament coils. Thus, in additionto preventing severe flexing of the Stringer just above the terminalmember, this strand helps to fill up the open loop portions of the coiland prevent the end portion of the coil from shifting laterally awayfrom the stitching which holds the coil to the tape.

A further object of the invention is to provide an adequatereinforcement device for the above purpose which is simple andeconomical, and easy to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown for purposes of illustration,one embodiment which the invention may assume in practice. In thedrawing:

FIG. l is a front view of the bottom portion of a zipper of the plasticfilament type with a separable bottom;

FIG, 2 is also a view of the bottom portion of the zipper with thebottom connection in section;

FIG. 3 illustrates the action of the parts during threading of the pinthrough the slider with the top of the Slider removed to facilitateillustration;

FIG. 4 iS a cross-section on line 4 4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-section on line 5 5 of FIG. 3.

The zipper shown has the fiat fabric tapes 6 and 7 having edges 8 and 9,respectively, which may abut one another on the back side of the zipperwhen it is closed. The fastener means consists essentially of a modifiedform of coil 10 on the tape 6 and a Similar coil 11 on the tape 7. Eachof these coils has a series of closely spaced and aligned open loopportions 12 along the Stringer edge and preferably, extending slightlybeyond such edge where there is a head portion 13 adapted to interlockwith corresponding head portions of the mating Stringer.

Throuhout each coil there is a relatively inextensible cord 14, and thefastening means is attached to the tape by Suitable stitching S throughthe coil and tape, and preferably, also penetrating through the cord(see FIG. 4). The fastener, of course, is opened and closed by a commonform of slider 15.

The separable bottom connection is made of rigid parts, preferablymetal. For this purpose, the filaments are cut so as to leave an endportion 16 on the pin side Somewhat lower than the portion 17 of theretainer side. The cord 14, however, in each instance, preferablyextends to the bottom of the tape, and in order to reinforce this endportion of the tape against crosswise strain, a cross tape 18 is foldedaround the end of the Stringer and cord, and adhesively secured to thetape.

The pin member of the separable end connection is preferably a metaltube-like element 19 of a common form found in metal zippers, and it isclamped securely around the edge of the tape, the cord 14 and cross tape18. It also preferably clamps the end portion 16 of the coil.

The reinforcing element is a semi-rigid strand 20, preferably of plasticmaterial and having one end firmly clamped into the U-bend of thetube-like pin member 19. This semi-rigid strand extends through the openloop portions 12 of a plurality of the coil convolutions, preferably,five or six such convolutions.

On the other side, the construction of the separable bottom connectionmay be Similar to that of a metal fastener, except that preferably, thetube element 21 grips around the end portion 17 of the coil. Theretainer iS a twin-channeled box-shaped member 22 which is made byU-bending a section of metal rolled to the shape indicated in section atthe bottom of FIG. 2. In the left hand channel, as viewed in thisfigure, the tube 21 is securely clamped, while the somewhat widerchannel 23 to the right allows room for freely receiving the pin element19.

It will thus be observed that I have provided an extremely simple devicefor effectively reinforcing the Stringer at the vital point immediatelyadjacent the terminal member. It is only necessary to cut an extrudedstrand of material, such as nylon, thread it through a few of the openloops of the coil and clamp the metal pin member in place in the usualmanner.

What I claim is:

1. In a zipper fastener, a fabric Stringer, fastening means of thecontinuous plastic filament type carried by the Stringer and presentinga series of closely spaced and aligned open loop portions along thestringer edge; a rigid terminal member clamped around said Stringer inline with said open loop portions and a Semi-rigid strand of materialsecurely anchored inside said terminal member and extending into aplurality of said open loop portions adjacent one end of said series.

2. In a zipper fastener, a fiat fabric Stringer, a continuous plasticfilament in the form of a modified coil, a cord extending throughout thelength of the coil, means securing said cord and coil to the fabricStringer along its edge, said coil terminating short of one end of SaidStringer, a rigid tube-like terminal member secured to References Citedby the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,398,592 4/1946 Morin 24-205-l1 53,067,476 12/1962 Cromberg 24-205.1l 3,162,918 12/1964 Burbank2li-205.11

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A ZIPPER FASTENER, A FABRIC STRINGER, FASTENING MEANS OF THE CONTINUOUS PLASTIC FILAMENT TYPE CARRIED BY THE STRINGER AND PRESENTING A SERIES OF CLOSELY SPACED AND ALIGNED OPEN LOOP PORTIONS ALONG THE STRINGER EDGE; A RIGID TERMINAL MEMBER CLAMPED AROUND SAID STRINGER IN LINE WITH SAID OPEN LOOP PORTIONS AND A SEMI-RIGID STRAND OF MATERIAL SECURELY ANCHORED INSIDE SAID TERMINAL MEMBER AND EXTENDING INTO A PLURALITY OF SAID OPEN LOOP PORTIONS ADJACENT ONE END OF SAID SERIES. 